I was blogging long before I wrote erotic romances. I’ve posted on one of my business blogs (under a different pen name) every day for over a decade. Blogging is near and dear to my heart and I truly believe that every writer, especially every erotic romance writer should have a blog.
Why?
Because if, for some reason, your website isn’t working (maybe hackers accessed it or the morality police had it shut down due to its adult content or your web designer messed up), you can redirect that traffic to your blog. Your blog is a backup for your website.
(grins) You thought I’d say a blog is a great promotional vehicle, didn’t you? And it can be but I think, for an erotic romance writer, having a backup for your website is even more important.
And that’s what I’ll talk about today—some of the unique issues erotic romance writers face. There are great articles about general blogging (see http://www.problogger.net/ ) and on using blogs for book promo in general. There’s not a lot of talk about our special needs.
We write adult content. As much as we can try to keep our blogs PG rated, the naughty words, situations, or covers will slip through. And quite frankly, our readers want them to slip through. One of the reasons they’re reading our writing is because it’s steamy. Why not celebrate this steaminess on our blogs?
But this means taking complete control of our blogs. Every writer should own her own blog domain. The person who owns the domain name controls the readers.
If your domain name is .blogspot.com or .wordpress.com, Blogger or WordPress owns your domain name. These huge companies can legally send all of your traffic to their own sites. They can also shut you down if they don’t agree with your content (a couple of complaints will do this).
Spending $8 U.S. or less a year ($16 in total as you’ll need a domain name for your website also) on a domain name will allow you to point your readers wherever you want. Blogger even makes it easy to use your own domain name ( https://support.google.com/blogger/troubleshooter/1233381?hl=en ). Using your own domain name makes your links prettier and appear more professional also.
Eventually you’ll want to host your own blog. I use WordPress.org (NOT WordPress.com – there is a difference between the two) and the free templates for my blogs. This makes it even more difficult for the morality police to shut my sites down.
Especially since I put a “By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, it is necessary to exit this site.” warning at the top of my blog.
Yes, being honest about hosting adult content reduces some traffic. Some readers can’t access my blog or website from their places of employment. But I’d rather that happen than inadvertently offend someone or face a lawsuit (though legally we might or might not need a disclaimer – http://www.blogherald.com/2011/09/09/adult-content-your-site-and-the-law/ ).
What issues have you faced as an erotic romance blogger? What other considerations should we mention?
BTW… the very friendly performers pictured are two of the many reasons why I love Vegas. (grins) You can click on the photos to make them larger.
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Sinful Rewards 1
Cynthia Sax
Belinda “Bee” Carter is a good girl; at least, that’s what she tells herself. And a good girl deserves a nice guy—just like the gorgeous and moody billionaire Nicolas Rainer. He is everything she wants in a man.
Or so she thinks, until she takes a look through her telescope and sees a naked, tattooed man on the balcony across the courtyard. Hawke is mysterious, the bad boy she knows will bring only heartbreak. He has been watching her, and that makes him all the more enticing.
But when a mysterious and anonymous text message dares her to do something bad, she must decide if she is really the good girl she has always claimed to be, or if she’s willing to risk everything for her secret fantasy of being watched.
Is her mystery man the reclusive billionaire with a wild side or the darkly dangerous bad boy?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-1-Cynthia-Sax-ebook/dp/B00I7V89H0
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-1-cynthia-sax/1119055390
Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_1?id=g08ZAwAAQBAJ
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-1/id814148703?mt=11
